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Wednesday, October 20, 2010

OOTD & Picasa web photo width tip!

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Don't forget to enter the Betsey Johnson Swag Bag & Anthropologie Gift Card giveaway here

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I've been loving seeing all the questions and post ideas y'all are coming up with. And I'm excited to answer them and follow through on some of the post ideas! So keep 'em coming :)

And, I also wanted to point out that I've started to compile some older questions & answers I've done on the 'questions' page on the left navigation bar of the blog.

Today I especially wanted to highlight a tip from the 'Questions' page on how to keep your photos the same width. Actually, my husband wanted me to share a Picasa tip with the world because he had a REALLY hard time finding any documentation on the special codes Picasa Web uses. Ev was particularly proud of himself for figuring this one out. And, if you use Picasa to host your images, this tip could be quite helpful. This post is going to be a teensy bit tech, but to make it interesting for the fashion folk, I'm going to pepper it with my Monday OOTD pics.

So I've read on several blogs (including Elaine's blog) that it's recommended that you keep your photos the same width so that your main text portion of your blog forms a nice visual column. I was going to do this by just inserting width=500 parameters within the image tags (500 is the width in pixels that I want my images). If you wanted to do this, you would take a normal image html tag and add the parameter like so:

<img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/.../s800/IMG_8861.JPG" WIDTH="500">

looks like:



Yah, ok. I was going to do that until Ev scoffed at me! lol. Picasa will automagically process images into the right width for you within Picasa if you know how to change their image info within their image links!

So, if I have a html tag with an image link from Picasa like this:

<img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/.../s500/IMG_8883.JPG">

currently the s500 is constraining the image so that the largest side is 500 pixels. (So if your pic is a portrait shot, the height of the image is 500 pixels, and if your pic is a landscape shot, the width of your image is 500 pixels). You can change that 500 to be any length you want as long as the actual image is at least that many pixels large. So if your image is only 400 pixels along its largest dimension, Picasa won't stretch the image past 400 pixels (plus, the image wouldn't look that great if you did that).

However, if you want to constrain the max width of your image (rather than just constraining the largest size) you would change the s500 to be w500:

<img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/.../w500/IMG_8883.JPG">



Easy peasy pumpkin pie (and we know I love pumpkin pie!). No extra width parameters within the image html tag. No resizing your photos in an image editor.

You can also set the max height by using an "h" instead, so it'd be h500. Neat.

So, in review:
s500 - longest side is at most 500 pixels
w500 - width is at most 500 pixels
h500 - height is at most 500 pixels


Phew! Now, I can talk about the outfit :) I was really excited to find this olive blazer at Goodwill the other day. Because it's a blazer, it still feels tailored and professional, but the olive color is less serious than the other black, grey, or brown blazers I own. And because I try not to look too dressed up at work, I think this blazer could get a lot of rotation. The rolled/cuffed blazer look has also helped me with respect to keeping my outfits looking more casual. Actually, Ev says I don't dress casual, I dress "snazzual" (snazzy + casual). lol. He was a little more than sad though when he googled the term and found out he wasn't the first originator of the term. :)

BTW, Buddie practically insists on being in all my outfit photos nowadays. He likes y'alls attention I think. So, uh why don't you just pretend I have a left foot in this picture :)

OOTD specs
Gap olive blazer sz 0
(thrifted $8)
Laundry by Shelli Segal strapless silk dress sz 4 (thrifted $13)
White H&M divided t-shirt sz 8 ($8)
Adidas black skinny belt (thrifted 99 cents)
dark grey tights ($7)
Xhilaration raspberry pumps (thrifted NWT $7)
Red Pashmina scarf (gifted)
H&M faux pearl strand necklace ($5)

13 comments:

Kayla Rochelle said...

I absolutely love that blazer! What a great thrifting find. I haven't had such luck in New York lately so I may need to plan a trip your way to sort through your Goodwill stores!

P.S. Thanks for the tips. I've been having a hard time with my photo size lately, so I'll take your advice and try to work some magic today. Thanks!

LilMissSeamstress said...

Buddie looks so relaxed on the picture. You look gorgeous as always with all different colors and patterns yet not too much at all. I think it's my long body(I am 5'9")that scares heck out of me(and others) when I wear anything that has strong color scheme or patterned. I have few of those in my closet, and they are either unworn for a while or forgotten...

and and your thrifting skill rocks!

Jin,

Cindy said...

Great tip! I don't use Picasa but that's an awesome hidden gem to discover. Love your outfit today!

Cindi said...

Seeing all your thrifted items make me want to go to goodwill pronto! I love those shoes and can't believe they're only for $7! Which goodwill do you go to?

Kathleen said...

Very timely post as I just yesterday realized that editing in Picasa is better than editing in Paint! (LOL I'm a slow learner!)I'll definitely be rereading/deciphering your post come editing time this evening!

TaraMixandMatch said...

I love the blazer...and I love your dog's guest appearance!

MixandMatchFashion

Jess said...

Hi Lori! Well the blazer is very cute, I think your dress totally steals the spotlight in your ootd :) The combination of it all is great too!

Chelsie said...

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!! What a timely post for me. I have been fighting with Picasa over this issue, and today, my pictures will look better and not overly big! Thanks!!! :D

Matt said...

Super cute outfit!! And I love it when Buddie shows up! Hehe. And I like the term snazzual. Perfect! Okay, and those shoes, I just love them!! I'm so behind on comments, ack. Anyway, this is a great tutorial (even though I use Flickr for my pics...), and a great way to demo your OOTD pics! :)

vintageglam1234 said...

Heya Lori
You know what, im good with MS Office and the like, but when it comes to more technical stuff, I am a total dummy.
I was trying to read your blog, trying to take it all in and learn about resizing images, but man, your outfit distracted me all the way through! I mean this in a good way of course! I love the colour combo here, you manage to wear green and red together without looking like a christmas tree! I love everything about your outfit, from the green blazer, to the pretty printed dress, big red scarf and those cute little mary-jane type red shoes! ♥♥♥

Jamie - Thrifty Threads said...

What a great dress -- and for $13??? Unbelievable! I found a Laundry by Shelli Segal leather skirt for $10 a few years ago. It is one of my best finds!

And thanks so much for your previous post on thrifting shoes. You offer some wonderful tips!

Lori said...

@Kayla yes, you should pop by this Goodwill if you're ever out here, it's just huuuuge and gets so much stuff that they actually ship unsorted crates of it off to more remote Washington State locations!

@LilMissSeamstress yah, he was completely relaxed... in my spot, lol! Wow you're pretty tall! You should work that height! Don't be afraid of pattern, everyone will notice the tall beautiful lady in the room!

@Cindy thanks! I think my hubby just really wanted the tip to get out there on the internets :)

@Cindi I shop at the Seattle Goodwill in the International District (on Dearborn).

@Kathleen let me know if you have any questions :)

@Tara thanks so much!

@Jess thanks! Yes, I really like this dress. I was so excited to see it hiding among the skirts at my GW the other day.

@Chelsie glad I could help!

@Matt Thanks! and I fig if I'm answering specific reader questions, I should have something here that other readers might be interested in :)

@vintageglammz lol, I didn't even think about how I could potentially look like a christmas tree. hehe. I'm glad I didn't!

@Jamie wow that does sound like a great find! I only have one leather skirt (bought at United Colors of Bennetton) but it's too big now so I'll eventually have to look for another. Glad you liked the thrifting post!

gck said...

Man, you have some great thrift finds! It's inspiring me to go out and look, too.

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